Ventilated container



Sept. 9, 1958 R. E. MAPLES VENTILATED CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July. 27. 1954 .aw M! 5 my m HE E m Sept. 9, 1958 R. E. MAPLES 2,851,526

VENTILATED CONTAINER Filed July 27. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent Ofii ce VENTILATED CONTAINER Richard E. Maples, Ashley, Ohio Application July 27, 1954, Serial No. 446,047 6 Claims. (Cl. 179-1) This invention relates to ventilated containers and more particularly to carrying cases incorporating heat-dissipative means.

An object of this invention is to improve the aesthetic and functional characteristics of an equipment-carrying case.

Another object of this invention is to prevent deterioration of mechanical and electrical components due to the effects of excess heat.

Another object of the invention is to improve heatdissipative capabilities of an equipment-carrying container.

A further object of the invention is to dissipate heat etficiently and inexpensively.

Another object of this invention is to force the movement of air without the generation of extraneous noise.

A feature of this invention is a container designed to enhance the movement of convection currents.

Another feature of this invention is a container incorporating a heat-conducting flue for dissipating heat generated by equipment in the container.

A further feature of the invention is an equipment-carrying container having an air-pumping means which consumes no energy other than that consumed by 'the equipment.

Another feature of this invention is the employment of an electro-acoustic transducer as an air pump.

Other objects and features of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description of one embodiment of the invention when read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of an equipment-carrying case embodying the principles of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front perspective view of the carrying case shown in Fig. 1, with the front cover removed to show the equipment mounted within the case;

Fig.3 is a view of the carrying case of Fig. 1 with the front cover and the body portion of the container separated one from the other and with the equipment removed to show the details of the internal construction of the container; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1.

To permit convenient transportation of various types of portable equipment, a carrying case is frequently provided. Many types of equipment, however, generate substantial quantities of heat due to the transformation of electrical energy into mechanical energy or to the transformation of electrical energy in one form to electrical energy in another form. Additionally, such equipment frequently contains components which are heat sensitive, the existence of excessively high heat levels impairing proper functioning of the equipment and prematurely aging or completely destroying those components. The present invention therefore relates to the provision in a carrying case of means for elficiently dissipating heat generated by equipment carried within that case.

v plane behind the knobs 2,851,526 Patented Sept. 9, 1958 Referring first to Fig. 1 of the drawings showing the complete carrying case in a closed condition, it will be seen that the case is provided with a base 10 integral with a body portion 11 upstanding therefrom. A front cover 12 is removably attached to the base 10 by means of hinging members 13 and is held in closed position for transportation by latching means comprising flexible members 14 mounted on the front cover 12 and provided with apertures therein engaging projections 15 mounted on the body portion 11. A handle 16 is provided on each of the portions 11 and 12 to facilitate the carrying of the container.

While the carrying case may be adapted to receive any suitable type of portable equipment, it is exemplarily disclosed, in Fig. 2 of the drawings, as containing a magnetic tape recorder mounted upon a vertical panel 17. The panel 17, it will be noted, forms a front wall for the container. Those elements of the recording equipment apparent on the face side of panel 17 include tape-carrying reels 18 and mechanism or apparatus 19 including tape controlling wheels and the requisite recording, play-back and erase head or heads. The panel 17 is provided with a rearwardly extending portion at its upper edge upon which may be mounted various control knobs such as knobs 20. The panel 17 is attached to the carrying case by any suitable latching means 21. Lying in a vertical 20 is a porous decorative grill work 22 serving a function hereinafter to be described. A plurality of feet 23 are desirably attached to the underside of the base 10 of the carrying case not only to prevent marring of the case but also to establish a space between the bottom of the case and any surface upon which the case may rest, for a purpose hereinafter to be described.

From the views shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, it may be seen that the case is provided with a stepped insert 29 at each end of the case to support the equipment, the two stepped inserts 29 being interconnected at the top by means of a plate 30 which contains a plurality of perforations 31. The perforations 31 should desirably occupy as much as the area of the plate 30 as is commensurate with strength and rigidity of that plate. The decorative grill work 22 previously described overlies the plate 30 and is partially cut away in the view of Fig. 3 to permit an unobstructed view of a portion of the plate 30 with its perforations or apertures 31.

The horizontal base 10 is also provided with a plurality of apertures or perforations 32, with as great an area of the base 10 being. perforated as is commensurate with strength and rigidity of that base. It will be noted that the rear wall or body portion 11 also contains a cut out or aperture 33 of appropriate size, with that aperture preferably being covered by a porous decorative grill work.

To permit an understanding and appreciation of the internal construction of the carrying case, a sectional view taken along the line 44 of Fig. 1 is presented as Fig. 4 of the drawings. The elements of the case and of the equipment components previously described may be identified by means of the reference characters hereinbefore employed. The sectional view of Fig. 4 shows the exemplary equipment installed in the case. The tapecarrying reels 18 and tape recorder mechanism 19 are normally driven by a motor or motors such as 40, which, as is well known in the art, performing their function of converting electrical to mechanical energy, but also are normally designed to operate under limited ambient temperatures. motors to excessively high temperatures results in malfunctioning and deterioration motors.

It is assumed that the tape recorder contains electronic components requiring a supply of electrical energy, and as a consequence some type of power transformer 41 is frequently of those not only generate heat in subjecting normally required. Power transformers also tend to generate heat during operation and are also sensitive to high ambient temperatures.

The electronic components of the tape recorder comprising the oscillators and amplifiers requisite to the operation thereof are generally shown at 43 in Fig. 4 of the drawings. These components normally include electrondischarge devices of the heated filament type (resulting in the generation of quantities of heat) and of various resistive loads. These various electrical components, and particularly the capacitive elements thereof, are notoriously heat sensitive and rapidly deteriorate under the influence of excessive ambient levels.

Tape recorders and other audio equipments are also normally provided with audio-frequency power amplifiers and some form of electro-acoustic transducer. Consequently, as is shown in Fig. 4, a loudspeaker 44 provided with a cone 45 is mounted at the rear of the body portion 11 in a position overlying the aperture 33 shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. Loudspeaking devices of this nature are also heat-generators and heat-sensitive.

The carrying case is designed to enhance the flow of convection currents, thereby to dissipate heat generated by the equipment. As was before-noted, the case is provided with feet 23 to provide a space around the periphery of the base permitting the easy ingress of relatively cool air currents. This air is permitted to enter the carrying case through the aperture or apertures 32 (Figs. 3 and 4) in the base 10 and to rise upwardly within the inside of the body portion 11, past the motor or motors 40 and transformer or transformers 41, past the electro acoustic transducer 44, past the electrical sections 43, and out through the apertures 31 and through the perforated metal grill 22 at the upper portion of the carrying case. It will be noted that were the carrying case to have a rectangular cross-section with the air vents 31 located on one vertical face thereof, the flow of convection currents would be severely hampered and proper ventilation would not be obtained. If, to mitigate this difficulty, the vents 31 were placed on the top face of the rectangle, then the equipment contained in the closed carrying case would be subject to damage due to rain or other precipitation since the vents 31 would be covered only by the grill 22. Consequently, the vents 31 are placed in a position wherein they are covered by the front cover 12 when the case is closed. To provide a structure a minimum impedance to the flow of convection currents the back of the body portion 11 is curved to provide a smooth forwardly extending wall or deflecting plate 48 serving to direct the air currents through vents 31. The entire inner portion of the body 11 therefore serves as a fine to direct the air currents, entering the case through vents 32, past the equipment contained in the case and out through the ports or vents 31 to the outer air. It will be apparent that since the heat generating equipment lies within the case, cool air will enter ports 32, be heated, rise as convection currents and be exhausted through the vents 31 near the upper'portion of the case.

To insure an adequate movement of air past the equipment, the employment of an air pump is desirable. However, the employment of such a pump, a fan for example, normally necessitates the conversion of electrical to mechanical energy, thereby requiring the consumption by the fan of energy additional to that consumed by the equipment and thereby producing additional heat. Further, the problem of noise in equipment such as tape recorder mechanisms is particularly acute, since the noise produced by a fan motor or by the fan blades tends to be recorded on the tape due either to pick-up of the noise through the recording microphone or due to amplification of the noise and impression thereof on the tape as a result of microphonics of the aforesaid electronic-discharge devices. The employment of a fan producing minimum noise would entail substantial. expense, would still require caution in the placement of the recording 4 microphone, and would probably necessitate the vacuum tubes in the equipment, or at least certain thereof, to be shock mounted.

Consequently in accordance with the principles of this invention an air-pumping fan device is provided which required the consumption of no energy additional to that already consumed by the equipment, which generates no noise additional to that produced by the equipment, and which serves to move relatively large quantities of air past the equipment to insure adequate ventilation thereof. This is accomplished through proper placement of the electro-acoustic transducer 44 and by the employment of a transducer having a moving coil and cone system.

A cone-type loudspeaker transforms the incoming electrical signal into an output acoustic radiation by means of the movement of a voice coil which is connected to a relatively large diameter cone 45 made of paper or other suitable material. As a result of the rapid excursions of the voice coil in the loudspeakers air gap, the cone 45 is rapidly moved back and forth to produce compressions and rarefactions of the air. This modulation in the air resulting from the movement of the cone 45 produces sounds which are directed leftwardly in the view of Fig. 4 of the drawings and which are audible to the listener. Similar compressions and rarefactions are produced as a result of the back radiation of the cone so that the air within the carrying case body portion 11 is also subjected to a fanning or pumping action. Therefore, whether there are large-amplitude low-frequency cone movements during the bass passages of the recorded material or small-amplitude high-frequency movements of the cone during treble passages, or both, a substantial fanning action occurs, it being recognized that with any given loudspeager and output acoustic power, the amplitude of the voice coil and cone excursions varies inversely with the frequency of the reproduced material.

As a result, not only is the flow of the air convection currents enhanced as a result of the particular configuration of the inner portion of the carrying case, but also the air is forced to move past the equipment and out through ports 31 as a result of the compressions and rarefactions of the air resulting from the back radiation of the cone-type loudspeaker. As a consequence, the ambient temperature is reduced to a value wherein the equipment can operate for extended periods.

It is to be understood that the disclosed embodiment of the invention is but exemplary and may be modified or varied within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A carrying case for heat-generating sound equipment comprising an apertured base, a wall adjoining and extending generally perpendicularly to said base, said wall being apertured in an area thereof remote from said base, and a curved deflector joining said wall to said base and directing the flow of air from the apertures in said base to and through the apertured area of said wall.

2. A carrying case for heat-generating sound equipment comprising a base having a plurality of apertures therein, means supporting said base in a plane lying in spaced parallelism with any plane surface upon which the container may rest, a first wall adjoining one edge of said base, said first wall being apertured in an area thereof remote from said base, said apertured area lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said base, a wall portion adjoining another edge of said base and lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said base, and a curved deflector joining said first wall and said wall portion for directing the flow of air from the apertures in said base to and through the apertures in said first wall.

3. A container for heat-generating sound equipment comprising a base member having a plurality of apertures therein, means supporting said base in a plane lying in spaced parallelism with any plane surface upon which the container may rest, a first wall adjoining one edge of said base, said first wall being aperturedin an area thereof remote from said base, said apertured area lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said base, a wall portion adjoining another edge of said base and lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said base, a curved deflector adjoining said first Wall and said wall portion for directing the flow of air from the apertures in said base to and through the apertures in said first wall, means including said equipment for causing air convection currents to flow between the apertures in said base and the apertured area of said first wall, and means including said equipment for prodncing alternating compressions and rarefactions of the air in the container.

4. A container, heat-generating sound equipment including a cone-type electro-acoustic transducer mounted in said container, an air intake and an air exhaust for said container, a curved deflector for controlling the flow of air from said intake to and through said exhaust, and means including said transducer for producing alternating compressions and rarefactions of the air in said container, said transducer being positioned in the line of air flow from said intake to said exhaust.

5. A container, heat-generating sound equipment including a cone-type electro-acoustic transducer mounted in said container, an apertured base, a wall adjoining said base, said wall being apertured in an area thereof remote from said base, a curved deflector joining said Wall to said base and directing the flow of air from the base to the apertured area of said wall, and means including said transducer for producing alternating compressions and rarefactions of the air in said container, said trans- 6 duc'er' being positioned in the line of air flow from said intake to said exhaust.

6. A container, heat-generating sound equipment including a cone-type electro-acoustic transducer mounted in said container, a base member having a plurality of apertures therein, means supporting said base in a plane lying in spaced parallelism with any plane surface upon which the container may rest, a first wall adjoining one edge of said base, said first wall being apertured in an area thereof remote from said base, said apertured area lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said base, a wall portion adjoining another edge of said base and lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said base, a curved deflector joining said first wall and said wall portion for directing the flow of air from the apertures in said base to and through the apertures in said first wall, means including said equipment for causing air convection currents to flow from the apertures in said base to the apertured area of said first wall, and means including said transducer for producing alternating compressions and rarefactions of the air in said container, said transducer being positioned in the line of air flow from said intake to said exhaust.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,900,330 Chartrand Mar. 7, 1933 2,124,194 Herzig July 19, 1938 2,446,756 Geyh Aug. 10, 1948 2,640,885 Kuhlik June 2, 1953 2,701,838 Loesch Feb. 8, 1955 

